Lighting unit



June 13, 1939. 1 F. GIES Filed Deo. 2l,

LIGHTING UNIT 3 Sheets-Sheet I INVENTOR June L F GlESE 2,161,957

LIGHTING UNIT Filed Dec. 2l, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 s" mvENToR 6 4MM/wif /fsf ATTORN E June 13,J1939. L. F.G|ESE 'f 2,161,957

LIGHTING UNIT Filed Dec. 21, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet ."5

INVENTOR 4a/wwf f." /fsf ATToR EY Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT OFFICE LIGHTING UNIT Lawrence F. Giese, Hales Corners, Wis., assignor to Line Material Company, South Milwaukee,

Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application December 21, 1936, Serial No. 116,976

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a lighting unit and is particularly directed to a partially shielded lighting unit.

In lighting units where a lamp is used inside of a light transmitting member, such as the glass globe the light projected from the lighting unit is usually of the same intensity in all directions, particularly for the common types of suspension xtures or ornamental street fixtures. It therefore results that where these lights are positioned along the edge of a highway, a good portion of the light is transmitted along the edge of the road and into the ditch. Similarly in ornamental installations in a residential section a good portion of the light is transmitted onto peoples lawns and into their bedroom windows.

Various attempts have been made to obviate these defects and solid reflectorsv have been employed as a shield for shielding a portion of the 2O globe or other light transmitting member. This results in an unsightly appearance, however, due to the fact that one side of the fixture is almost totally dark.

This invention is designed to overcome the above noted defects and objects of this invention are to provide a novel form of lighting unit which retains its ornamental or attractive appearance when lighted although shielding means are provided forpreventing the objectionable lighting of lawns, bedroom windows, or unused sides of the road, for example, but which nevertheless does' not put one side of the xture in total darkness but provides at one and the same time a shield for a portion of the globe or other member while lighting to a materially reduced degree the shielded portion of such globe or member so that the objectionable light from the xture is eliminated while the entire fixture is nevertheless maintained in an illuminated condition,

thus avoiding any unsightly and inartistic appearance of the xture while insuring comfort for residents in the vicinity of the fixture.

Further objects are to provide a shield which has light transmitting characteristics to lessen the light transmitted to the globe or other surrounding member from. the lamp and which has a reflecting surface presented towards the lamp so that the light obstructed by the shield is. not Wasted but is re-directed and is utilized.

Further objects are to provide a4 novel form of shield for lighting units which may be formed of metal or other material, which has a reflecting surface adapted for presentation towards the lamp, and which is provided with a plurality of apertures to allow a certain denite or predeter- (Cl. 24o-25) mined amount of light to pass through the shield to thus rather faintly illuminate the shielded portion of the globe or similar member surrounding the lamp.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of a suspension type of lighting unit, with parts broken away and in section, showing the shield in place.

Figure 2 is a plan View of the shielding member.

Figure 3 is a detail showing a fragment of one form that the shielding member may take drawn to an exaggerated scale.

Figure 4 is a View of a fragment of a further form of shielding member.

Figure 5 is a fragment of a further form. of shielding member.

Figure 6 is a sectional View, much enlarged, taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a View of an ornamental type of streetI fixture, with parts broken away and in section, showing the shield in place.

Referring to Figure l, it will be seen that a conventional form` of suspension lighting unit has been illustrated as having a head I, a hood 2, and a globe 3, the globe being held in any suitable manner, as by means of the globe ring 4 carried by means, not shown, from the supporting ring 5. This supporting ring may be pivotally mounted, as indicated at 6, and may be removably held in place by means` of the U-shaped link 1 carrying the clamping screw 8. The clamping screw 8 preferably hears against a lug 9 projecting from the supporting ring 5 and if desired, an adjusting screw or `clamping screw IQ may be provided and may bear against a pin Il carried by the suspension link i2 upon which the ring 5 is pivoted. In accordance with the usual practice, gaskets i3 and I4 may be positioned on opposite sides of the ilange of the ring 5 between such flange and the hood 2 and globe' 3 respectively.

The ring 5 may be provided with an inwardly dishield l '1 and rests upon Vthe flange i 5 of the -ring 5, as shown in Figure 1.

If desired, the split ring i8 may be provided with ra'small outwardly directed flange I9 to thus permitV a lighter stock to be used'in forming Vthe Y spring.

i wise perforating the member.

Y The shield l1 Yis preferably formed of polished sheet metal, at least Vone side, namely, that presented towards the lamp being polished and formother material with a long-lasting luster and high polish. The shield is provided with a plurality'of holes which may be formed by drilling Vor other- One form employs roughly 400 holes to the square inch. Ob-

viously the amount of light reflected by the shield and the amount transmitted may be made'any value desired. A value that hasV been found satisfactory is to re-direct approximately 60% of the light from the shield by reflection and to transmit approximately through the apertures. Very clearly the relative area of the openings and the remaining body of the shield woulddetermine the proportion of light reflected to that transmitted. Figure 3 shows the perforated shield of Figure 2 drawn to a very much enlarged scale, the holes being indicated by the reference characterY 20. The perforations preferably cover the entirelarea of .the screen, though, they have been partly omitted from Figure 2 for the sake of clearness. Obviously the small perforations cannot be indicated in their proper proportions Yrelative to the screen in Figure 2. Y Obviously larger perforations could be used than those described and the'figures given above throughout the major portion ofi-its extent.

form of theV invention, therefore, gives a'betterV are intended merely as illustrative. It is within the realm of this invention toruse larger size holes which may be, if desired, similarly shaped to that shown in Figure 3 or may be differently shaped. For example in Figure 4 roughly rectangular or oval-shaped holes or slots 2| may be provided in the shield l1.

It is to be noted from reference to Figures 5Y and G'that the louver like portions Yof the shield jadjacent the apertures serve vas' reilecting'me'm- Vbers to reflect a portion ofthe light transmitted through Ythe apertures of the shield and to thusl shieldingeifect andra more uniform illumination of the shielded portion of the globe.

, In the form shown in Figure small louvers 22 Ymay beformed in the shield I1.

It is obvious that the perforations may'take other shapes than those specifically illustrated.

Referring to the form of the invention shown inFigure 7, an ornamental street lighting unit has been illustrated as comprising a globe 23 supported from the annular-'supporting memberV 24, which latter is usually provided with an outer Vupwardly projecting flange 25 and an inner, relatively smaller, upwardly projectingV flange 26.

able or usual manner. The globe has its upper portion lclosed by means of thev ornamental top 28. 'I'he cover 28 may be secured to the globe in Yany suitable manner, for example as illustrated,

' Within the globe a lamp 21 is carried in any suitand the globe may be locked to the support 24 in held by means of an outwardly expandingsplit l. ring 3| formed of resilient material and preferably curved or contoured to iit the inwardly projecti'ng bend adjacent the base ofthe globe, thus automatically and removably holding the shield in place in a manner similar to the action of the spring ring I8 of Figure 2. Only half of the shield has been shown in Figure'l, the remainingV half being sectioned off.

Thejshield is preferably formed in exactly the Y same manner as that described in detail in connection with Figures 2 to 6.

' In each form of the invention the shield is intended to transmit only a portion of the light falling thereonl Preferably it is so made as to fixture but nevertheless materially reducing the intensity of illumination of that portion of the globe or other member shielded by the shield.

It will be seen that this invention provides a very simple remedy for the annoying and relatively undesired light from aVA fixture while at the same time maintaining the entire globe or other member lighted up and thus avoiding inartistic or unpleasant effects that would result from the use of a solid opaque shield.

It is to noted particularly that the shields may be very cheaply manufactured and may be easily applied to existing types of fixtures without in any way marring their attractiveness either when lighted or unlighted and yet fulfilling the objects hereinabove enumerated.

Although this invention has been described in considerableV detail, it is to be understood thatV such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

l. In a lighting unit, the combination of a globe, a lamp for illuminating said globe, a metal shield Vinterposed between saidV lamp and said globe for shielding a portion only of said globe,

V`said shield having a polished reflecting surface presented towards said lamp and having a plurality of apertures for transmitting light to illuminate the shielded portion of said globe and Y having slanting louver like portionsfadjacent said apertures for causing reflection of a part of the light transmitted through said apertures, whereby the shielded portion of said globe is illuminated with a diffused illumination and to a lesser extent than the unshielded'portion of said 'globe lthereby avoiding lunsightly contrast between the shieldedv and unshielded portions of saidV against said annular portion, whereby said shield is supported by the engagement of said split ring with said flange and is prevented from shifting by the resiliency of said split ring, said split ring being out of `contact with said globe.

LAWRENCE F. GIESE. 

